The Pageant Days of Mrs Wellington
by TheNinjaNerd
Summary: A story of Mrs. Wellington's first beauty pageant and why she began them in the first place.


**A/N: Right. So this is just a quick one-shot because I always get restless before school starts (Monday. Ugh) and I needed something to do. I really need to reread SoF so that I can get back into the characters (I couldn't quite channel my inner Mrs. Wellington but whatever, this will do).**

Edith was dressed to the nines, her makeup overdone to perfection, Vaseline smeared on her white teeth to ensure her red lips never faltered in smiling, her hair very much flammable from the amount of hair spray it took to hold it in place, and her attire delightfully flamboyant, a sequined bodice sitting atop an array of feathers that decorated the skirt of her gown.

She had never felt more beautiful in all her seventeen years. The dress had been well worth her savings, though her mother would be quick to disagree.

But that didn't matter. Her first pageant was already more than half way over, her having already competed with the other twenty or so girls in the talent portion (where she had blown away the judges with her playing of the marimba) and the evening gown portion (she was sure she was a top pick for that one, especially after seeing how traditional the other girls dresses were)

Edith stood at the end of the line of girls in front of the meager crowd as she anxiously waited for the portion of the pageant she had joined for- the question and answer.

She had never needed a pageant or a crown to know that she was a beauty- she had told herself that for years. However, all the Vaseline in the world wouldn't have kept her smile from faltering, albeit just a little, as each girl stepped forward to answer a question delivered by an old beauty queen who was serving as a judge. Edith scoffed at the sloppy job the woman had made of her eyeliner. She must be blind. Maybe she would miss Edith's slight trembling, then.

Thinking of this, Minnie Sawyer, a girl clad in a simple silver dress, made her way to the center of the stage.

"Miss Sawyer," began the old beauty queen as Edith realized she hadn't paid attention to any of the girls before now, "What is your favorite childhood memory?"

Edith clinched her fist as Minnie went on about roller skating with her mother and remembered playing in her own mother's closet, trying on her dresses and shoes, playing with her makeup.

She also remembered standing in front of her class two months ago and trying to give a report on the British Empire. It didn't matter how good you looked if you got tongue tied on the smallest matters.

She thought about his until suddenly she realized Minnie Sawyer was next to her again and Edith took a rather ungraceful first step towards the center of the stage, her heart beating against her ribs. She held her head high and looked straight at the wall before her, still smiling.

And sweating. She was also beginning to sweat.

"Edith, how will pageantry benefit you in your future career?" the judge asked her.

As the crowds eyes bore into her, Edith thought that perhaps the old beauty queen was psychic.

Edith's mother had told her to try and picture the crowd naked to get rid of her nervousness, but instead all she could picture was the crowd picturing _her_ naked and she quickly looked down at her dress.

In the midst of the pink plumage, she realized that for one thing, the crowd was not picturing her naked, they were looking at a girl in a dress fit for a beauty queen. Edith raised her head. She _was_ a beauty queen. This dress wasn't going to be wasted on a girl that couldn't answer a simple question. In that moment it felt like armor.

"I entered this pageant for reasons that, I believe, are different from the other contestants. You see, while they have hopes for a crown, and I'd like to add that a crown would be lovely, I entered this pageant today overcome a fear. I have a fear of public speaking, something that has, well, interfered in my day to day life and that I have grown tired of. I entered this pageant for this very phase so that I could leave my comfort zone and force myself to be strong. I also wanted a new dress, but that's beside the point. I do not plan to live my life in fear; I plan to live my life in beautiful dresses like this one, smiling, and talking to those that will listen.

I do not know where the future will take me, but I would like to believe that I will live fearlessly no matter the career I choose. I used to be self-conscious, so I began to dress to draw the eye. I was once afraid of dogs, so I befriended my neighbor's Doberman. I am a firm believer that the only way to overcome fear is to embrace it, and though I don't currently know what my future career will be, I hope I will be helping others to do for them what I have done for myself- overcoming your worst fears so that you can live a better life. Because life is too short to be afraid, I think. Thank you."

With that, Edith went back to end of the line of girls as they all walked off stage to wait to gob ack on and hear the results. She stood taller than she before, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

She had overcome her fear of public speaking, she would be able to do it again.

She wasn't so keen to overcome her fear of burglars, but she would revisit that another day.

Through the crowning, and she did get a crown, for she won, she thought perhaps she would do more pageants. After all, where else would she be able to wear such gowns and, having overcome her fear, she realized she quite liked all eyes and ears on her.

She had meant what she said, she would like to help others overcome their fears.

But that was a topic for another day. For now, she was happy with her crown and her dress.

**A/N: Not by my best, not my worst. But that's alright. Also, I realized this when I was writing, do we know her maiden name? Because she wasn't Mrs. Wellington yet, but I didn't know what she was before. Also I didn't edit (I'm sure you can tell) so just saying.**

**I wanted to make this a bit more quirky when I started, but the more I though about it the more I thought that she might not have been so zany in her youth (though still self-centered). What do you think she was like?**

**Anyhow thanks for reading and sorry I'm rambling tonight I'm a tad bored. I will probably edit this in the future.**

**Love ya!**

**-Jessi**


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